How are wild fires caused and

how we can stay safe from

them?
 Table of contents
Abstract 2

What causes wild fires? 3

How do wild fires start? 3

How do wild fires spread? 3

How can we prevent wild fires and stay safe from them. 4

Wild fires are increasing. 4

Wild fires are increasing. 4

We must do what we can 5

There are different solutions. 5

There are things out of our control. 5

Conclusion 6

Work cited 6

Figures
Figure 1 2

Figure 2 3

Figure 3 5
Abstract
Every year thousands of wild fires burn across the United States, Not only do they burn nature and its
surroundings, but they also cost humans billions of dollars in damages to communities. Wildfire is an
uncontrolled fire that burns in the wildlandwildland vegetation, often in rural areas. Wildfires can burn in
forests, grasslands, savannas, and other ecosystems, and have been doing so for hundreds of millions of
years. They are not limited to a particular continent or environment (National Geographic Society).

Wildfires can start in different ways, like a light strike or a human spark. However, it is often the weather
conditions that determine how much wildfire grows. Wind, high temperatures, and little rainfall can all
leave trees, shrubs, fallen leaves, and limbs dried out and primed to fuel a fire. (National Geographic
Society).

Even though wild fires cause a lot of damage to the surrounding communities and areas they are not
completely bad. Wildfires also help keep ecosystems healthy. They can kill insects and diseases that
harm trees. By clearing scrub and underbrush, fires can make way for new grasses, herbs, and shrubs
that provide food and habitat for animals and birds. At a low intensity, flames can clean up debris and
underbrush on the forest floor, add nutrients to the soil, and open up space to let sunlight through to the
ground. That sunlight can nourish smaller plants and give larger trees room to grow and flourish.
(National Geographic Society).
 What causes wild fires?
How do wild fires start?
Wildfires do sometimes occur naturally, either ignited by the sun’s heat or a lightning strike. However,
most wildfires are caused by human activities, including unattended campfires, discarded cigarettes,
arson and more. The 3 main components that cause them are fuel, heat, and oxygen. These are referred
to as the “fire triangle.”

A fire can only occur when all three components react together. So, in order for a fire to be extinguished,
at least one of the components of the “fire triangle” must be removed (Moore). Oxygen is naturally
occurring in the air and when the fire is exposed to oxygen it helps it burn. Fuel is any kind of flammable
material that emits vapor and heat causes the fuel to get to their flash point causing the vapor to mix
with the oxygen. Fire is a chemical reaction that is also known as combustion, which happens with the
oxygen in the air and when the fuel has been heated to its flash point.

How do wildfires spread

Wild fires can spread in many ways, they can spread quickly if uncontrolled reaching thousands of acres
of land in a matter of hours. But the intensity and movement of a wildfire ultimately depends on three
factors: fuel, weather, and topography. These factors are collectively known as the “fire behavior triangle.”
(Moore).

Weather conditions also play a big factor in the behavior of wild fires. Wind, for example, supplies fire
with additional oxygen. This can cause a fire to move across a landscape at a faster rate and High
temperatures and low humidity also dry out fuel sources, causing them to ignite and burn faster. This is
why wildfires typically become more intense and spread fastest in the afternoon, when the air is hottest.
(Moore).
How can we prevent wildfire and stay safe from
them?
Wild fires are increasing.
Due to the combination of fire suppression, climate change, and an increasing number of ignition
sources, wildfire activity throughout the western United States has climbed steadily over the past several
decades, outpacing our ability to contain it. From the 1970s to the 2010s, areas burned in large forest
fires have increased by more than 1,200 percent. The giant, ferocious fires of the past several years
continue the trend. (Wibbenmeyer). The increase in wild fires is a result of decreasing ability to prevent
and control wild fires. Climate changes also have increased fire activity in certain parts of the pacific.

As we learn more and better understand wild fires and their causes, we can come up with better
strategies to contain and prevent them. It is clear that the history of wildfires in the United States makes
it clear that we’ve been mistaken in our historic aims to suppress fires entirely, and natural burns are
healthy for the ecology of the region. Therefore, we need strategies to help us coexist more safely with
fires. (Wibbenmeyer)

How to be safe from them

Wild fires are not entirely in our control, there are other factors like climate change and natural causes
like lightning strikes and the landscape. So, we might not be able to prevent them entirely, but we can
make efforts to stay safe and try to ring the numbers down. The most obvious fix is for communities to
limit exposure by discouraging development in fire-prone areas because location is key if you want to
keep yourself and your family safe especially in high exposure states its best to build houses and move
into lower risk areas.

Location isn’t everything, though. Communities can limit exposure to fire risk by requiring buildings to
meet fire-resistant standards and making sure that owners maintain their properties to minimize fire
risk. Building materials—such as fire-safe shingles, fire-safe tiles, and fire-resistant siding—can reduce
the risk of loss. Moreover, most structural losses in fires are due to embers that ignite a home or nearby
vegetation (Wibbenmeyer). Even though location is key you might not always be able to be in a location
that has limited exposure to wild fires. So, if you are in a location that has high exposure it is important
that buildings meet these fire resistance standards.
 We must do what we can.
There are different solutions.
Not only 1 solution will work, but we must also do what we can to keep ourselves and our families safe
from wild fires. It is important that we adapt and do what is in our power to bring the number of wild
fires down. We have to try to be in low-risk areas, make sure that our homes and buildings meet fire-
resistant standards, and do not cause fires from human activity. This is the least we can do on our part to
stay safe and cause fewer wild fires.

Smoke can be a big issue too after the fire is put out there might be smoke that is harmful in the area.
Accelerating work to restore woodlands and reduce fuels in US forests could help. However, smoke is
likely to remain a serious concern in the near term. Communities can prepare by investing in air filtration
systems in public buildings and schools. State and federal governments can help families purchase
household air filtration systems in heavily affected areas by providing financial assistance
(Wibbenmeyer).

There are things out of our control.

Climate change is one thing that is out of our control. Given the realities of climate change and the
sprawl of housing in dangerous areas, the risk of major wildfires is not going to evaporate. One way or
another, people need to adapt. (Wibbenmeyer). This is why it is important to do our part and adapt
when we can.

Topographical features of a landscape, such as slope, elevation, and aspect, can also facilitate wildfire
progression. If a fire ignites at the bottom of a steep slope, for example, it will spread more quickly uphill
because the heat rises. As that hot air rises, it preheats fuels that are further uphill, causing them to
readily ignite once the fire reaches them. (Moore). This type of land also has an effect on wild fires, so
we have to pay attention to the slope elevation and aspect when living in a high riskhigh-risk area.
 Conclusion
Let’s face it, we will never be able to completely stop wild fires. But we can bring them down and make
sure we stay safe from them. We all must do our best to not cause ourselves human causes of wild fires
can bring them down significantly. Apart from that they occur naturally from something we can’t control.
This is when we must make sure we are safe, especially when exposed to high-risk areas. Try to stay
away from these areas but if not then make sure you take the right measures to keep you and your
community safe. Yes, there might be some good factors when it comes to wild fires like how they keep
the ecosystem healthy and kill unwanted insects and diseases, but to humans they do more harm then
good. apart from the direction they can go the smoke is also unhealthy and bad for us. We Just have to
do our part to stay safe.

Work Cited
Moore, A. (n.d.). EXPLAINER: How wildfires start and spread. College of Natural Resources News.
https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2021/12/explainer-how-wildfires-start-and-spread

Trends and solutions in wildfire Management. (n.d.). Resources for the Future.
https://www.resources.org/archives/trends-and-solutions-in-wildfire-management/

Wildfires. (n.d.). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/wildfires/